Yoenis Cespedes
Yoenis Cespedes
Yoenis Céspedes Milanés, nicknamed La Potencia, is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He has also played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. Before joining the Major Leagues, he played in the Cuban National Series and was a member of the Cuba national baseball team. He won the 2013 and 2014 Home Run Derby. While primarily a left fielder in his early career, he has split...
NationalityCuban
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth18 October 1985
CityCampechuela, Cuba
CountryCuba
Despite the situation in Cuba, I had a chance to play on the national team; and compared to other baseball players and other people in Cuba, I had the opportunity to live at a level that was not very high class but in the middle.
I had a chance to play for the Cuban national team during the 2009 World Baseball Classic, but at the time I never thought about leaving Cuba.
My life has changed in many ways, both on an economic and personal level. All major league players are accorded the respect they deserve. In Cuba, it was not that way. National team players were not respected. The treatment was not adequate.
Sometimes I rush my swing because I am so anxious to play well. In Cuba, the quality of the pitching is not the same as it is here. There you might find one or two pitchers at 94 or 95 mph. Here, every day I find several, and each pitcher who comes along throws his hardest stuff.
In Cuba, I would start the first two months hitting around .260 with three or four home runs. After the first half of the season, I would get hot, and that's when I would have my best results.
I grew up on the softball field. Every day I would take my glove and my bat with me
In Cuba, I didn't even have a bicycle.